churchless

[ church-lis ]

adjective

1. without a church.
2. not belonging to or attending any church.
3. without church approval or ceremony.

Word History and Origins

Origin of churchless¹

First recorded in 1635–45; church + -less

Example Sentences

This is most easily tracked in the rise of churchless Christians.

From Salon

And what about the “kind-ofs,” the churchless Protestants, the “raised Catholics,” and the cultural Jews who don’t attend services and for whom religion is more of an inherited abstraction than a lived experience?

From Slate

“I am so sad that a place of prayer and solace has become a place of fear,” said Kim Jeong-ja, 58, a churchless churchgoer in Seoul.

From New York Times

The Costa on Holloway Road in London tells me a church group meets a couple of times a week to use the chatty tables, but there are no tables for the churchless.

From The Guardian

“Maybe we’re going into the churchless society. I don’t know,” Dilig said.

From Los Angeles Times